‘TEXAS’ MAKES THE WELL-WORN SEEM FRESH

“North Sea Texas”

In Dutch with English subtitles

Rating: Not rated

When: Opens today

Where: Landmark Ken

Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

★★★

“North Sea Texas” transports us timelessly to a small Belgian coastal town, where neglected youngster Pim is living in a world all of his own. He also happens to be longing for Gino, a slightly older boy next door. Complications ensue.

It’s a story that’s been told countless times, but first-time director Bavo Defurne has such an assured hand and visual flair (much credit also belongs to cinematographer Anton Mertens) that everything seems fresh and new.

By opting to capture indelible moments and avoid melodrama, Defurne manages to make this coming-of-age tale both sensual and delicate, something you rarely see in an American film — or any film, for that matter — about gay adolescence.

As a result, “North Sea Texas” is a pleasure to watch — a spot-on story about the agony and ecstasy of adolescent first love.

Defurne gets solid performances from his entire cast, and though the thematic terrain is familiar, the feelings that the film evokes never go out of style: The isolation. The unrequited love. The struggle for self-preservation. The joy of being yourself.

The director deftly handles the intimate scenes between the boys in a powerful but restrained fashion. All in all, a beautifully crafted film that is melancholic, yes, but optimistic, too.